Abu Dhabi Police are conducting security preparations for the International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Abu Dhabi 2008), said Lieutenant Colonel Hamid Said Al Afrit, Head of Arms and Explosives in Abu Dhabi’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Head of the Security Committee at the Exhibition.

“The security committee has taken all the necessary preparations to provide a safe security environment that meets the requirements of organising the Exhibition and preserving the safety of visitors and participants,” said Lieutenant Colonel Al Afrit.

The Exhibition’s Head of Security Committee emphasised that the importance of Abu Dhabi police presence in many events both locally and nationally “aims to strengthen relations between the police and the public through informing them of the security role played by Abu Dhabi police to maintain security and safety of the community.”

Lieutenant Colonel Al Afrit said the objective of the exhibition “reflects the extent of care given by the Government of Abu Dhabi to cultural heritage and its keen interest in preserving old heritage sports including hunting and equestrian, and informing visitors about the main stages of falconry and the latest equipments used in hunting.”

“The exhibition has proved its importance by having achieved concrete success over the past years, and is a suitable opportunity to seal business deals, meet with people interested in heritage activities, discuss different methods used in hunting and exchange ideas and experiences,” he pointed out.

Participants are required to get a certificate of good conduct from the specialised authorities well before the exhibition and submit it when applying for a purchase at the Licensing Office during the Exhibition.

“There will be a new mechanism for buying and selling weapons while we will closely follow companies which import arms,” said Lieutenant Colonel Al Afrit.

The event, sponsored by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Emirates Falconers’ Club (EFC), and organised by the EFC in cooperation with Turret Middle East with support from the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, will be held October 8-11, 2008 at ADNEC.

Terms and conditions:

First, arms’ procurement procedures in the United Arab Emirates:

• Getting a certificate of good conduct from Abu Dhabi Police before October 7, 2008.
• Choosing a type of weapon.
• Completing a purchase order form at existing arms companies participating in the exhibition, accompanied with the demand two passport photos, registration copy and a copy of the passport.
• Confirmation of the purchase order from the office of licensing weapons in the exhibition.
• Paying the value of the weapon to the vending company.
• After the end of the exhibition, the office of licensing weapons receives arms from weapon-selling companies and the exhibition organising body, goes through licensing procedures, and hands weapons to their buyers.
• If weapons are out of the country, a licence certificate is issued to the competent company in order to bring weapons where they are cleared by police and handed over to their buyers.

Secondly, procedures of purchasing arms in the Gulf Cooperation Council states:

• Anyone wishing to buy weapons is asked to bring from their country a licence certificate to buy and export acquired weapons to their country. The certificate must be a legalised copy of the original document from their country’s embassy, and should be handed in to the office of licensing weapons.
• The office of licensing weapons gives the holder of the certificate a permission of arm purchase.
• Paying the value of the weapon to the selling company.
• After the end of the exhibition, the office of licensing weapons receives arms from weapon-selling companies and the exhibition organising body, hands them over to border police in order to go through overseas shipping procedures according the buyer’s assigned date of shipment.